Boring wells



UNITED ISTATES PATENT OFFICEO JAMES H. SOUTH, OF MONDAMIN, IOWA.

BORING SPECIFICATION form'ng part of Letters Application filed April Toall whom it mcy"concerm Be it known that I, JAMES H. SOUTH, ot"Mondamin, in the county of Harrison and State of Iowa, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvementsin Boring Wells; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itpertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings,which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an. improvenent in the method of lowering tubinginto wells; and it consists in pressing the sections of the tube intothe well by means of rods which havethe derrick fastened to their upperends, whereby nearly the whole weight of the derrick is utilized inpressing the section' into position.

It further consists in the arrangement and combination of parts, whichwill be more fully described hereinafter.

The object of my invention is to utilize the weight of, the derrick inforcing the sections of tubing into position, and especially wherequicksand is encountered, and where the hole, as it is bored, wouldrapidly fill up if the tubing were not quickly inserted into position.

Figure l is a side elevation of my invcntion. Fig. 2 is a perspective ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the bottom piece of the well.

A bucket-auger is' employed in boring the hole for the well, and thesections of tubing B, of any desired length, are then inserted into thehole which has been dug by the anger. This anger will be operated in theusual manner, and the derrick, which is placed over the well, will beprovided with a windlass for drawing up the dirt from the hole in theangerbncket. After the hole has been bored a suitable distance one ofthe sections of tubing is inserted into the hole, and then the pressurerods C are applied to its top edge. These rods have their lower endsforked, so as to catch over the top of the tubing, wherebythey areprevented from slipping off, and their upper ends are also forked, sothat either one ot' the prongs will catch in any one of the links of thechains D, which are used in connecting the upper ends of thesepresser-rods with the presser-levers E. The two presser-levers havetheir ends united together by means of the me- WELLS.

Patent No. 243 643, dated June 28, 1881.

6,1881. (No model.)

tallic plate F, and which plate has a hole made through or in it toreceive the lower end of the braced post G of the derrick. To these twopresser-levers the chains are fastened at any suitable point, and thenthe chains are hooked or fastened to the tops of the two presser-rods,as shown in Fig. 1. The bracepost of thederrick is lifted from theground, and its lower end, provided with an iron pin, is placed in thehollow in the plate which connects the two ends of the presser-leverstogether. As the two presser-lcvers are raised above the ground by meansof the chains, and as the derrick is thus made to throw the greater partof its weight upon these two lcvers, it will readily be seen that thisweight is transferred from the presser-rods to the top edge ot' thesection of tubing which is being inserted in position in the well. Afterthe auger has become filled with earth and the windlass is used to raiseit upward, the whole weight of the au ger, together with the friction inraising it upward, is added to the weight of the derrick in forcing` thesection of tubing into place.

In certain sections of the country, in boring wells quicksands areencountered at different depths, and which, unless the tubingis quicklyinserted into place, will so completely fill up the hole which has beendng as to make the digging of the Well a very difficult and costlyoperation. By thus having the sections of the tubing placed one abovethe other and the whole weight of the derrick constantly restin g uponthem, as soon as quicksand is encountered the weight and pressure of thederrick will instantly force the section downward, so as to cut off theflow of sand into the well. In this m-anner, no matter at what depth thequicksand may be encounteredit can be so easily controlled that itwillinterfere very little with the digging of the well. After the wellhas been dug to a suitable distance a bottom, I, made of strong wood,iron, or any other suitable metal, may be inserted in position, andthrough this bottom will be nade any suitable number of openings, whichare covered' with wire-cloth. These sections of wire-cloth allow waterto freely pass up into the well, but will prevent quicksand, dirt, orother similar substances from being carriedinto the well in suchqnantities as to fill up the well.

IOO

as shown.

2. The combination of the sections of tubing with the presser-rods, thepresser-ievers, the 15 connecting-chains, and the derrick, substantiailyas described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES HARVEY SOUTH.

Witnesses:

L. MGBRIDE, J. L. MGCLANNAHAN.

